It is not uncommon for two or more identical checked luggage items owned by different persons to arrive with their owners on a given flight, thus confronting each owner with the task of identifying his or her luggage item as it whirls around on a luggage carousel surrounded by a crowd of travel-weary, often frustrated fellow travelers. It is virtually certain, moreover, that several arriving travelers among the throng gathered around the carousel cannot distinguish their luggage items from the many look-alikes in the competitive xe2x80x9cblack seaxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94black luggage is currently overwhelmingly popular.
Many suppliers of luggage use a distinctive identification tag on all luggage items in their lines. Often, the luggage itself cannot readily be distinguished from similar luggage from another supplier, it being uncommon for luggage to bear a prominent trademark or logo other than the identification tag. In the first instance, many travelers can usually identify the brand of their luggage from the identification tag. There still remains to such travelers the problem of identifying a particular luggage item from other similar items of the same brand. In many cases, the only way that a particular luggage item can be identified is by looking at a personal identification card inserted in the identification tag, which often cannot be viewed until the luggage item is so close as to make it difficult to both identify the item and retrieve it from the carousel before it moves out of reach. Moreover, the tags of some luggage suppliers have windows for personal ID cards that are covered by flaps to ensure the anonymity of the owner. In those instances, the traveler has to open the flap and view the ID card in order to identify his/her luggage item which makes it all the more difficult to identify and retrieve the item.
An object of the present invention is to provide a luggage identification tag for common use on all luggage items of a given supplier that can be readily distinguished from other identification tags that are of the same overall construction and appearance. It is also an object to provide a luggage identification tag that is primarily distinctive based on overall appearance so as to identify a particular brand and secondarily distinctive among all other such tags by virtue of a secondary identifier. Still another object is to enable a user to select the secondary identifier.
The foregoing objects are attained, in accordance with the present invention, by a luggage identification tag that has an envelope having a front wall member and a rear wall member, the wall members being of a sheet material and being joined along opposite side edges and one end edge so as to enable the envelope to receive and hold an identification card. The front wall member has a hole through which a color card received in the envelope between the identification card and the front wall is visible. The particular color card in the envelope is selected by a user from several color cards of different colors that are furnished with the identification tag by the supplier of the luggage. A tether joined to the envelope enables the envelope to be fastened to an item of luggage.
The overall construction and appearance of the identification tag, according to the present invention, may be such as to serve as a primary identifier for all luggage items of a particular supplier, which is highly advantageous from a marketing point of view. Many owners of branded luggage can recognize their brand of luggage from the tag, even the luggage itself looks very much like luggage from other suppliers. Within a particular brand, the color card that is visible through the hole serves as a secondary identifier, which is very likely to be distinguishable by an owner from a color card of an identification tag for another luggage item of the same brand, and even the exact same model, in a particular setting. Inasmuch as each owner can select a color card from several color cards of different color that come with the tag, the odds of two travelers on a single flight having luggage items of the same brand in similar or identical models with the same color card are very small.
The hole through which the color card is visible should be large enough to be seen from several feet away, so that an owner can see the tag and color card, provided that it is in a position to be viewed, before the luggage is so close to the owner on a carousel as to make it difficult to retrieve the item. In many cases, there will, in that regard, be a fairly large number of similar luggage items of the same brand on the same flight, and the first owner to see an item of his or her brand will reposition the tag for viewing the color card. Then, it can usually be seen by persons downstream along the carousel who are looking for similar luggage items of the same brand. The ability to spot one""s own luggage from a distance will go a long way toward a quick and orderly retrievalxe2x80x94at present, people often miss their luggage on the first go around because they cannot identify it in time to retrieve it without pushing other people downstream out of the way as they scramble to grab it.
Although the color card hole may be of any suitable shape, it is desirable that it be defined by a hole edge that is free of sharp corners. Sharp corners produce concentrated stresses and might lead to tearing of the material. Suitable shapes include a rectangle with rounded corners, a circle, an oval, a dogbone shape, or other figures of variable shape. The minimum dimension of a color card hole should be about one inch, a size that allows the color card to be clearly seen from several feet away.
Luggage identification tags are often made of natural or artificial leather or a plastic film. In order to increase the durability of the hole for the color card, a grommet can be installed in the hole. Retention of a snap-in, single piece grommet is enhanced by providing a plate portion extending from the hole that is fastened to the tether.
In a preferred embodiment, the rear wall member of the envelope has a window through which the identification card can be viewed and a flap that covers the window and that can be folded back to enable an observer to view the identification card. A releasable fastener secures the flap in covering relation to the window.